


Happy Birthday, Miss Hardbroom!

by TheWorstStoryteller



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017), The Worst Witch - All Media Types
Genre: Birthday Party, F/F, Surprise Ending, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22631608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWorstStoryteller/pseuds/TheWorstStoryteller
Summary: Hecate's birthday has always been a rather quiet occasion. Except this year, chaos seems to reign in the academy. Is Dimity running an illegal substance lab with Miss Tapioca? Has Gwen lost all her marbles? Is Algernon reading obscene material at work? And what is Ada hiding from her? Is the school in trouble?Or maybe, just maybe, she's in for a big surprise...
Relationships: Drill/Julie Hubble, Hardbroom/Pentangle (Worst Witch)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 78





	Happy Birthday, Miss Hardbroom!

Hecate’s birthday had always been a rather quiet and uneventful occasion. Quite frankly,she preferred it that way. “I don’t see the need to selfishly seek others’ attention solely to myself for hours while greedily demanding each of them brings a present and then engage ourselves to all frivolous shenanigans ,all topped by kitsch decoration” she had explained once at the teachers’ table when Dimity Drill noted her lack of interest, distaste even, for birthday celebrations. They never had any birthday parties at the orphanage. The children were too many and the funding too little to cover even basic expenses, let alone throw daily parties. They were lucky if they received a present at all.The gift in itself was nothing special,rather a necessity that would be given to them at one point or another anyway, like a pen of the kind that was sold in packs of 20 for a pound at the pound store or a new uniform a size bigger. Nonetheless Hecate felt grateful to receive even that and could not side with other witches’ megalomania.

The only time in her life that she had allowed herself to indulge in any sort of celebration, if it could count as such, was during her teen years at Cackle’s. Every year, Pippa would sneak into her room before the rising bell with a tiny strawberry cupcake on top of which a candle was placed. She would hold it close to Hecate’s face as she woke her up with a different modern birthday chant than the year before, on which she had worked all year. Hecate quickly made a wish and Pippa gave her a kiss on the cheek before they proceed to hide the evidence of their crime in their stomachs. She didn’t know where Pippa managed to find these cupcakes or how she preserved them and brought them to her unnoticed, but she was thankful. It was their tradition. Once they parted ways, despite their hard feelings, Hecate always found a cupcake on her desk and a musical card that released a song when you opened it.

She ought to admit however, that at times a hint of jealousy would momentarily recede in her heart when she saw the parties Ursula Hallow or even Pippa threw.

Students organized a whole show for Ada’s birthday every year, but she recognized Ada was fully deserving of it. She did wonder at times though if they would do the same for her, was she to succeed Ada in the hierarchy, considering the lack of eligible blood heirs.

Hecate had entered the world on a cold January morning which meant that on most years, her birthday fell on a typical school day. This year was no different.

Her birthday started in typical fashion. Perhaps a little more quiet as, by breakfast, her maglet was yet to clink with birthday wishes from the restricted amount of witches that messaged her and no member of the staff had cared to wish her either, except Ada in private. Of course, the deputy headmistress was not one to bring attention to herself by reminding them. She even enjoyed it on some level. Pippa’s card and cupcake were also yet to arrive, but Hecate held no doubts in her heart that they would at some point during the upcoming hours.

Her first class of the day with the third years had just ended and she was in the midst of casting a tracking spell to find Miss Drill, the P.E coach to talk to her about final exams when she noticed a pink luminous substance running down Sybil Hallow’s pockets, spilling its way through her gown, tights and ending on her shoes.

“SY-BIL HA-LLOW” her tone suddenly rose “May we learn what this pink specimen on your uniform is?” “Uhh..I” the tiny blonde girl’s voice began to shake with anxiety.

“It’s eye of toad,Miss Hardbroom” Beatrice stepped in to defend her friend.

“If you speak without being asked to, one more time, we’ll be discussing this in detention, Miss Bunch” she threatened, putting emphasis in each word as she leaned forward, inches away from her face.

“Yes, Miss Hardbroom” the Lilliputian witch took a step back Next second, the potions teacher materialized on the other side of the desk and stood next to Sybil.

“And you...eye of toad you say!? Strange. We didn’t use any eye of toad today. In fact, we’ve run out for our supplies for a few days now” she pressed her lips together in rage as her eyes widened. With a snap of her fingers, a pink magic glitter marker appeared on her hand “What do we have here? Magic glitter,Miss Hallow? Bringing forbidden items in the academy? Lying to a teacher?” Now Sybil seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“And you? Are you also in possession of forbidden glitter?” she yelled at the other two. “You know what, let’s just go ahead and check,shall we?” she went on before they had a chance to talk and with another snap of her fingers a blue and a green glitter marker appeared on her hand. “Normally I’d give you double detention but seeing that it is my birthday today and my time is valuable, I’ll let you go with a simple punishment of writing the sentence ‘I shouldn’t lie to my teachers’ and ‘I should not bring forbidden items in the school’100 times each. Am I clear?”

“Yes,Miss Hardbroom” the trio chirped in unison, swallowing hard. “And now get out” she barked and within seconds they were gone.

* * *

Dimity Drill was startled when Hecate’s voice suddenly echoed through the broom storage room. She was bent over a huge black banner, painting letters on it with white shiny paint. She jumped upon hearing the chilly voice, making the paint run a little on the last letter.

“Miss Drill. Shouldn’t you be working?”

“I am ,Miss Hardbroom. A couple of second years broke a school banner during flying slalom so I’m replacing it”

Hecate’s eyes fell on the banner that read ‘Hap’. “Which event is this banner meant for exactly?”

“Halloween”

“But that’s months away” a mix of surprise and annoyance resonated in her voice

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today, right HB?” questioned Dimity with a hint of teasing in her words, as she waved her sparking fingers over the banner, effectively fixing the messy P.

“I suppose so” Hecate’s lips formed a fine line as her gaze momentarily drifted away. Her fingers slid to the watch hanging by her neck which she fidgeted in anticipation as she prepared her next words. “I was meaning to talk with you about the end of term examination but I see you’re occupied with more meaningful tasks” she berated her fellow educator. “I shall return when the time is more fit. Or when you set your priorities straight, whichever comes first” and with this last sting, she curled her hand in the air and disappearred as quickly as she had appeared.

* * *

She hadn’t reached a decision on whether she should raise the matter with Ada or not when a loud bang followed by a blinding light and smoke came from the attic. She knew exactly which pupil was responsible for this “unfortunate accident”.

“MILDRED HUBBLE” her words echoed before her figure materialized in her erstwhile room. Memories of the birthdays she spent in this very four walls flooded her mind. She mildly shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the situation at hand.

Mildred wasn’t alone. By the worst witch, to no surprise, stood Nightshade and Spellbody. Ethel Hallow was also present. They were all covered in smoke, gathered around a box.

Hecate slowly lifted it with an expression of disgust. “Magic word spelling fireworks? Are you and your recently acquired friends” she shot Hubble and Co a derogatory glance “planning on joining your sister in her writing punishment, Miss Hallow?”

“Miss Hardbroom, I have nothing to do with this. I just heard Mildred and her friends talking about hiding this from you and I had to find out what they were up to” Ethel snapped, overwhelmed by the heinous accusation.

“We shall solve this in Miss Cackle’s office” Hecate announced, uncertain of the middle Hallow’s involvement in the incident. She hadn’t failed to notice the quartet’s newfound, unprecedent enthusiasm as they chatted together on breakfast that day.

A minute later, she paced in the spacious office of the headmistress as the girls studied the floor a little more thoroughly than she remembered them doing on their numerous past trips to this very location.

“I found them in Mildred’s room using these” she explained, placing the box on Ada’s desk.

“Fireworks” the older witch read “How disappointing. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Hecate. I can take it from here” she eyed her over her glasses.

“As you wish” Miss Hardbroom unwillingly extracted herself from the office.

One because Ada was always overwhelmingly lenient with these pitiful excuses of witches. Two because she was treating her as if her birthday made her incapable of fulfilling her duties.

* * *

The hours leading to lunch ran by pleasantly smooth, in contrast to the tiring morning that had tempted Hecate to use her birthday privilege and request permission for early withdrawal to her chambers. She had a change of heart at the dining room as the paradoxically tasty food managed to lift her spirits. She was on her way to the kitchens, about to congratulate Miss Tapioca on this new menu when she noticed a strange smell. She took a step forward to the halfway open door and carefully took a look inside to ensure she wasn’t intruding on a bad moment when she noticed Miss Drill and Tapioca receded to a corner whispering.

“I brought the stuff” The coach handed the cook a mysterious bottle, glancing over the room cautiously “This should do. It works wonders.”

The cook lifted the bottle in her field of vision and carefully examined it for a moment before breaking a smile “Thank you, Miss Drill. We’ve had quite a problem since we ran out. This ingredient is seriously addictive. Your order is ready by the way”

Hecate quickly casted an invisibility spell,puzzled as to what she had just stumbled upon.

“Excellent! I knew your talents exceeded school lunches” Dimity high fived the other witch “

You can always trust me for any cooking activities” Tapioca winked

“Do you feel the temperature has turned a little cold?” Dimity shivered

Hecate quickly transferred herself away before they realized her presence in the corridor. What had she just witnessed? A deal? Were Dimity and Tapioca running a secret illegal substance lab? The decision was now made. She had to talk to Ada. Quickly.

* * *

She could hear Ada’s voice as she approached the wooden door, allowing her body to become visible again.

“At what time should we expect you?” the older witch was heard saying.

Hecate knocked and stepped inside. “I wanted to talk to you about Miss Drill”

Ada abruptly switched her tone to a more imposing one when she saw Hecate “I’m afraid I am not aware of the adequacy of our sporting supplies. I’ll have to talk to miss Drill and get back to you,Mr Broomfield...alright. Good evening to you too” she hang up, placing the atrocious modern technological device in its place. “The supply company wanted to know if we’re good for sports day” she gave Hecate a whole hearted smile that somehow only served to worry Hecate more. There was something unsettling about it that she couldn’t quite place.

“Sports day? But that’s at the end of next term” she furrowed her eyebrows.

“With so many schools to supply,I imagine they want to prepare early on” Ada lifted her shoulders. “Anyway, how can I be of assistance, dear? You wanted to tell me something about miss Drill?” Ada changed the subject, pulling her deputy out of her state of trance.

What was Ada hiding from her?

“Nothing serious. She just wasn’t feeling good after lunch and thought that maybe we should give her the rest of the day off. “ she muttered, shaking her head. She felt her stomach twist at the lie but she couldn’t bother Ada with Dimity’s problems before assessing the severity of this issue.

“I’m sure Dimity can talk to me herself, if she feels the need to. But if she comes to you first” Ada almost laughed at the unlikelihood of such a case “tell her she can definitely take some rest”

“Right. If you don’t need me for anything else, I have….some unfinished business…to cater to” Hecate said although she was technically the one that entered the office.

“Of course, dear”

Once outside, Hecate paused for a moment to take a breath, pressing her back against the cold wall. Her mind raced a mile per minute, unable to shake the unsettling feeling that crippled in her stomach. What was going on? Was Ada somehow involved in Dimity’s business? Had Agatha taken over? The portrait hadn’t moved-she made sure to double check that- but who knows. Perhaps Ada had trouble with the council again. ‘At what time should we expect you?’ was what she had said. Perhaps the great wizard was going to pay them a visit. Or Doomstone. Yes,that’s what it must have been. Ada just didn’t want to ruin her birthday by worrying her right now.

She decided she would bait Gwen at the end of business.

* * *

The chanting lesson was still on, when Hecate landed in the music room, despite the bell signifying the end of classes for the day. Miss Bat was playing an unknown melody. The students’ singing came to a halt, staggered as they were to find their most terrifying teacher eerily creeping over miss Bat.

“What’s the matter,girls?” Gwen looked over her shoulders “Oh hello,Hecate” she released the organ keys when she noticed her there “How can I help you?

“Which song is this? I don’t think I’ve heard it before” Hecate questioned, a little more austerely than she had intended as the alarming feelings she had managed to push down during the classes had resettled to their place in her core as she recalled the purpose of her visit.

“Oh you’re right,Miss Hardbroom. I got my melodies mixed up a little. We were trying to sing ‘First a frog,now a bird, everything changes with a spell’ but I switched to a song with common keys from my third album halfway through. It’s called ‘Relax a little bit’ you should listen to it.” She passed a tiny bit of witty criticism to the brunette who comically enough, let it slip unaddressed.

“Indeed” was all she said as let the room shift out of focus, disconnected

“I’m afraid I’m getting older” Gwen continued

“I’m afraid so too” the other agreed, chillingly

“Anything else I can help you with?”

“No. Carry on.” She turned away.

One fact got instilled, clear as day, within Hecate’s mind: Gwen had gone Bats and probably couldn’t at all be of assistance. Perhaps now would be a good time to talk to Algernon about her concerns. Over both Gwen’s retirement and Ada’s troubles.

* * *

She found him in his office , reading through a book, resting his feet on the desk before him. He quickly resumed to a normal position when she popped there, throwing the book in the air in a mix of surprise and embarrassment to be caught.

“Mister Rowan-Webb, a word, if I may?”

“Of course” he expertly rescued the book from hitting the ground with a last minute arm extension spell.

“What’s the matter? You look like you lost your potions book and found it covered in pink dust” his features softened when he noticed Hecate’s underlying anxiety. Damn. Old magicians were too competent in reading one’s feelings in all the wrong moments.

Hecate raised her eyebrows at the remark. She could see how he and Gwen became a couple. They obviously shared their sense of humor.

“Have a seat” he patted the chair next to him ‘What happened?” A fond feeling of dejavu momentarily took over. For the brief period Algernon was her teacher before Gullet turned him into a frog and set him to the pond, he had held her a couple times after class to offer his advice. Perhaps he could help now too. Not just with Gwen and Ada but everything.

“What didn’t happen?” she sighed as she took the offered seat.

“Sharing leaves you with half the problem” he encouraged her. “It all started when” she began confiding but paused as her eye suddenly fell on the book the wizard was reading when she stormed in, which turned out to have suspiciously shiny pages. The wizard rushed to hide the book from sight when he followed her gaze. “Why did you do that?” her features and voice returned to their regular chill inducing state. The moment was over as the temperature in the room seemed to decrease. “What’s in that book?”

“It’s just a…spell book” Algernon took an attempt at providing believable excuse to no avail.

“You should know that unauthorized spell books are banned, Mr Rowan-Webb. If we find you in possession of any dark magic guides, we’ll have no choice but to fire you”

“Dark magic?” Algernon reacted, perplexed. “That’s quite an accusation, Miss Hardbroom”

“Well, if it’s an innocent advanced spells book, why are you hiding it? Look, I’m only warning you because I respect you”

The wizard remained silent

“Hand it over” she demanded “Do not force me to use my position as a deputy to pursue further action”.

Algernon still struggled to form a response

“Fine” she rose, turning her back on him

“Wait” he stopped her “Alright, it’s not a spellbook. It’s a…uhm…a copy of ‘Fifty spells of Gray’. For Miss Bat. You can…uh…check it out if you need to…?” he added trying to phrase his input as less awkwardly as possible

Her eyes widened in horror. This wasn’t anything she had imagined or expected

“No, thank you. Your account will suffice” she blinked, mesmerized. “ But do you find it really suitable reading that….thing…in your office? In a school?”

“We live here, Miss Hardbroom. The mailman brought it and I meant to take it to my room but couldn’t find a good moment during the day, with all the pupils wandering around”

She nodded in understanding “Fair enough. But take it to your room as soon as you can”

“Of course” he reassured her as she rushed to evade the awkward encounter, still struggling to believe what her ears had just heard.

* * *

There was a lot of tension and silence during dinner that night. Everyone seemed to be absorbed in their own thoughts. The girls were particularly silent after getting yelled at by Hecate whose noon headache was once again hammering her meninx.

The icky fear that Ada was holding a big secret from her still hadn’t departed her mind (neither did Rowan-Webb’s and Miss Bat’s obscene literature preferences, to her discomfort) when she gave the other professors halfhearted goodnights and materialized in her bedroom, ready to leave this mentally exhausting day behind. Fortunately, Ada had assigned the task of turning the lights off and checking that the girls were all in bed to miss Drill as a gift.

She released her dark locks from their tight bun, gently massaging her temples.She helped herself to a painkiller potion and opted to dedicating her remaining time till bedtime to reading a new potions volume she had gotten herself, hoping to relax a little before sleeping. Besides, Ada had also assigned the rising duty to Miss Drill, essentially buying her extra time to sleep in , was she too get too consumed in it.

Little did she know her plans would fall short.

She was ten pages in when a knock suspended her entertainment. “Come in” she ordered, a little too annoyed.

“Miss Hardbroom” Ethel stormed in, the terror apparent in her voice. “Mildred and her gang are about to blow fireworks on the west tower. Come, quick!”

She wondered if someone had deliberately put Mildred Hubble to the task of ruining every single minute of tranquility in her life. _‘On the bright side, at least I didn’t take my gown off’_ she thought as she followed Ethel.

“They’re in here” she pointed at a door

“Ready?” Mildred’s voice came from the other side of the door “3..2..1”

“Mildred Hu” Hecate left her words hovering as she stepped inside

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS HARDBROOM!!” a medley of voices yelled ecstatically.

Hecate took a look around. The room was filled with people in their formal cloaks and hats. The entire of cackle’s academy must have been standing in there.

On one side a huge buffet table had been set with all kinds of magical and non magical treats known to man. Between the dishes-some of which she recognized to be Ada's secret specialties that had only been cooked on a selected number of celebrations before- stood magic wish cards, signed by different colors of magic glitter, one for each person. The same glitter she had confiscated from the third years.

On the other side a piano was placed, on which miss Bat was now playing the tune she heard earlier that evening as the students sang

“hit the keys, find the tone, raise your pitch

wish happy birthday to a witch”

In the middle of the room, on display was the banner Dimity had worked on. The now complete sentence read “Happy Birthday Miss Hardbroom!”. Witch hats were dancing on top of every letter. On the left of the phrase a broom was drawn while the right was graced by a sketch of her. The fireworks the fourth years had caused an explosion in the attic with, now blasted in the air spelling wishes like “Happy Birthday, Miss Hardbroom!-Maud Spellbody”, “All the best, Miss Hardbroom-Enid Nightshade” and so on. Magic balloons that changed shapes flew everywhere.

Hecate stood there frozen, genuinely taken aback by this development. Ethel was quite the actress, it turned out.

She felt her eyes burn as she slowly recovered from the shock, tears threatening to escape at the realization of what was going on. They had planned a surprise party for her! She couldn’t believe they had all gone to such great lengths to honor her birthday. To celebrate her.

“We really tricked you, didn’t we,HB?” Dimity gave her a soft punch to the upper arm before placing a glass in her hand. A bottle materialized and started filling it “My mom’s personal recipe of ‘wizkey’. That’s what I was lending Miss Tapioca when you caught us. We needed something to replace eyes of toad in all the recipes that required it”

She blinked “You knew I was there?”

“Of course, you silly witch. You’re not the only intuitive person in this school” she grinned. “Anyway, Happy Birthday you shithead” Dimity raised her glass “May you keep annoying the fuck out of me for a long long time to come”

“Oh you can be certain of that” she followed her lead. Dimity’s mom’s wizkey tasted rather good.

“Isn’t it awesome?” Dimity asked as Hecate’s eyes fell on the banner again “Julie helped with the drawings” she pointed to the curly haired artist.

“It really is” Hecate suddenly felt guilty for the way she had treated Julie Hubble over the years. She never missed a chance to belittle her by reminding her of her non magical nature and yet, the kind hearted woman had gone through the trouble of drawing a banner for her birthday. “Thank you, Julie….I…Thank you really” she murmured for lack of better words. “And I may add that I’m terribly sorry for the mistreatment you’ve endured by me”

“No worries” Julie brushed it off.

The rest of the teaching staff had now surrounded the birthday witch with their own glasses to offer their wishes.

“You were in on this,weren’t you?” she whispered to Ada as their glasses clinked.

“I was, indeed. We all were. We casted a walkie talkie spell on our maglets and we informed each other of your every move. It was a little hard with you transferring everywhere but we managed. “

“And who’s idea was it exactly?”

“Mildred’s” she smiled as she took a sip from her glass. “She overheard us discussing what a pity it is that you’ve never had a proper celebration so she planted this idea into our heads. We sat down, figured out the details and the rest is history. I hope the end result is good enough to redeem us for the scare we gave you. Gwen and Algernon said you were pretty shaken up”

“Oh, it does far more than that. It’s better than good, it’s….perfect” she glanced around again, taking all of her surroundings in “Speaking of that phone call, who were you-“ she attempted to get an answer but stopped once her eyes fell on a distinguishably pink figure that had emerged from the crowd, smiling. Ada winked before retrieving towards Miss Tapioca, who was analyzing a cookie recipe.

“Happy birthday, my love” the blonde cheered as she enclosed her in a warm hug.

“What did you call me?” Hecate asked without letting Pippa go, offended yet slightly joyous over the unforeseen public pet name calling.

“I said ‘Happy Birthday, you old toad!’” Pippa blushed on her shoulder.

“That’s not what I heard” Mildred yelled as she run past them, chased by Ethel Hallow whose face was covered in some kind of frosting. Hecate would normally reprimand her for each and every of her faults (running, yelling, throwing frosting at other pupils) but ultimately concluded now was not the time. She was in Pippa’s arms and it was her birthday. Plus Mildred had essentially orchestrated this whole event. She could let it slip this time. Or well, it could wait, at least.

A big pink cupcake with multicolored sprinkles and a series of candles appeared on Pippa’s arms when she pulled away. It was identical to the tiny ones Pippa would secretly sneak into her room on their student days together. This could only mean one thing. Pippa sent pink sparkles of magic to the piano keys that started falling and rising on their own, dancing to a new tune. Everyone fell silent as Pippa’s beautiful voice filled the room.

“We wish you a birthday as lovely as youuuu” the song concluded with a kiss on her cheek by Pippa that made her complexion significantly less pale. She closed her eyes, made a wish and blew the candles. Everyone clapped.

Chaos returned to the room as Pippa started cutting the enormous cupcake. Mildred started playing a non magical song called “Happy Birthday to you” on her Hubble’s bubble’s invention and the crowd started dancing.

Birthday parties weren’t so bad, after all.

* * *

Once everyone was stuffed with ungodly amounts of cupcake, Hecate took a moment to transfer herself to the corner of the room where the tiny (perhaps not so tiny anymore) third years devoured Pippa’s colorful, sugar filled donuts.

“I suppose you realize that you can forget about those lines I assigned you” she told them as she hovered behind them. It's not a violation of the code if your headmistress has handed the object to you. 

“But Miss Hardbroom” Clarice objected “I already wrote them”. Hecate felt a pinch in her heart for the little girl that so graciously accepted and carried out her punishment instead of giving up the plans, to make her teacher happy.

“Very well. Then I’ll make sure to exclude you from the next potions assignment. How does that sound?” she proposed an alternative.

“It….I….Wouldn’t I miss out on it then? What if it affects my education negatively or I miss out on a big milestone project like magic volcanos?”

Hecate’s eyes began twitching.

“What she means” Beatrice gave her a soft kick on the leg

“is thank you, Miss Hardbroom” Sybil completed the sentence as she stood on her other side, rubbing her back meaningfully.

“Then you can sit out on an assignment of your choosing. Would that suffice? ”

 _For the love of the craft, please don’t object again_ , Hecate begged any superior force listening.

“That sounds wonderful. Thank you,Miss Hardbroom” Clarice smiled, finally satisfied.

The night progressed with a broomstick dance by the fifth years, the brooms leaving trails of wishes behind them as they flew. It concluded with the trail spelling “Happy Birthday, Miss Hard-“ and a broom hovering at the end, causing a round of laughter. Hecate smiled at them fondly, making a mental note to give everyone one extra point in the next test. It was only fair as they sacrificed studying time for this outstanding display.

Pippa had asked her to dance-well, she practically dragged her to the middle of the room. They slowly swayed to the beat-which Gwen made sure to be romantic- Hecate resting her head on Pippa’s shoulder when she noticed Mr Rowan Webb advancing towards them. He clutched something in his arm protectively as he bypassed the dancers, careful not collide with any of the awkwardly moving witches,like Julie who stepped on Dimity's feet a couple times.

“Happy birthday, Hecate” he wished again as she lifted her head. “This is for you” he handed her the same book she had seen on his desk earlier

“Mr Rowan Webb” she goggled as Pippa pulled herself away to take a look.

“Oh” he chuckled “It’s not what you think. It’s a gift we all prepared. I just lied so you wouldn’t find out. I’m really sorry about that”

“Thank you” she took the book from his hand, still a little flustered. 

“We know you aren’t used to getting many gifts so we decided to give you something sentimental” Ada disclosed as everyone gathered.

“Aren’t you gonna open it?” Pippa questioned with the playful expression of a conspirator.

She did. The first page read “Moments with miss Hardbroom”

“It’s a collection of each person’s favorite memory of you” Algernon explained.

She started flipping the book. The pages on the right side contained memories of her that played like a video. On the left pages, was a tiny moving picture of said memory’s holder, accompanied by a few heartfelt lines that explained the memory and why it was the person’s favorite. A second year had picked a memory of her teaching them a remedy potion because she had later been able to make it for her sister when she was sick, keeping her symptoms from worsening. Sybil Hallow had picked the night after Doomstone’s inspection when Hecate apologized for her mean comment and spent her evening going over the potions’s process again, step by step until she made sure Sybil understood her mistake and learned the right way to do it. She said it made her feel confident. Pippa had picked the moment Hecate asked her to be her girlfriend.

“They’re like gifs,really” observed Mildred who had turned up on her side “Mr Rowan-Webb taught us how to do it”

“It’s pronounced jif, you dumbass and secondly, gifs are like magic. Magic memories certainly came before these non ma-” Ethel chimed in but fell silent when Felicity elbowed her.

It was probably the most valuable thing anyone had ever given her. Hecate stared at it, unable to utter a word as the long-withheld tears finally streamed like waterfalls down her cheeks. Her heart was filled with a kind of warmth she didn’t think it was capable of feeling anymore. Until this very moment, she hadn’t realized exactly how much people appreciated her. She was under the impression everyone, except Pippa and Ada, saw her as a necessary evil, a great asset academically but a heavy burden to bear socially. Yet they all had a good memory of her to share, a reason to be thankful for her existence in their lives. How oblivious had she been?

“She doesn’t like it” a tipsy Dimity spoke, breaking the silence “I told you we should have gotten her a broom with the word ‘hard’ on it”

Normally, Hecate would roll her eyes at her but not even Dimity and her dumb jokes could ruin this. Even though, apparently, her favorite memory of Hecate was one of her slipping off her broom and falling face first on the grass below.

“I..I don’t know what to say” she finally found her voice. “I just hope that I will have the opportunity to prove myself worthy of this honor”

“This wouldn’t be yours if you hadn’t already proven yourself” Ada patted her shoulder tenderly.

“Then I hope to be able to continue serving this academy as best as I can and keep doing all the good I’ve done for you”

“To more of Hecate in our lives then” Pippa raised her glass and everyone mimicked her, cheering.

* * *

The shindig continued till very late. Once the students were sent to bed, the adults formed a circle and started exchanging funny stories, alcohol flowing in their glasses unstoppably. At first the stories concerned Hecate and iconic parties of the past that left their imprint in the passing on time but gradually the topic moved to any subject imaginable. When their brain cells became too numb for the narrations to make sense-proving their ability to magic alcohol out of thin air to be equally a blessing as it was a curse-and their eyelids felt heavy, each began making their way to their room, humming to Esper Vespertillio songs a little louder than it was appropriate.

“Don’t forget that Dimity’s offer to take patrol duty tomorrow in your place still stands” Ada reminded her as she escorted Pippa,who was too drunk-and frankly unwilling- to fly home, to her chambers.

“Put the extra time to good use, Hardbroom!” Dimity winked as she and Julie departed for her own room in the opposite direction.

It was quite a funny image to see Hecate dancing her way through Cackle's with a rose on her ear, whistling in a volume that would’ve made Broomhead’s face go through the entire color palette had she been able to see her. It was a wonder-and perhaps a sign that luck was in her favor- that Felicity wasn't awake. Had these minutes unraveled oterwise, Hecate would have never been able to live this down.

“Thank you. For everything” she whispered between kisses once she and Pippa were in the safety of her private space.

“Who said it’s over? There’s one gift yet to give” Pippa lowered her lips down her neck, sending shivers down her spine. “I mean, if you want to”

“Of course I do” she directed them towards the bed, shooting a sound containing spell to the door, hoping that it worked.

Soon their clothes formed a pile on the floor, along with the potions tome she read earlier, a move sober Hecate would never forgive.

* * *

As Hecate laid on her pillow that night, giving her lover who was sleeping soundly a last look of adoration, she let her thoughts reflect back to the moment she had blown her candles. Everyone had taken wild guesses at what she had wished for at the after party. But they were all wrong. Because she hadn’t wished for anything. Or well, she wished for more of this. Because for the first time in forever, Hecate Hardbroom felt that everything she wanted, everything she needed, was right here right now, waiting for her. For the first time in a long time, Hecate Hardbroom dozed off to a peaceful sleep with happy dreams of a bright future.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry for any mistakes. I edited this an overwhelming amount of times.  
> If you liked it, please leave a kudos and a comment. I've had a couple of rough days confidence wise.


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